- Joined
- Dec 24, 2011
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- Qantas
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Dear AFFers,
I’ve spent quite a bit of time flying with car seats on QF in the last year and thought it would be worthwhile to do a brain dump of what I’ve learned for the AFF community as the last thread was ~2007 and is closed. As always, this info is based on my experiences and shouldn’t be relied upon exclusively.
Short Version:
* Qantas Special Handling (+61 2 8222 2651) know all of the rules and you need to speak with them, but unfortunately the crew and the check-in agents don’t know or follow these rules. This is understandable, as car seats aren’t very popular and those sections of the rules aren’t widely understood or used. Also be prepared to be reseated and shuffled around by gate agents and crew members at the last minute who aren’t familiar with the rules, so don’t get your hopes up and expect to keep the seat you’ve chosen.
* Understand the differences in seating restriction based on what international standard your car seat meets. If you have a AU/NZ car seat, you’ll be limited to very specific seats. If you have a US car seat, you can sit in lots of seats (more info below), but the flight crew might move you because they don’t understand this distinction.
* AFF should keep a list of known car seat locations for planes, not only for those of us travelling with car seats, but for those of us who don’t want to risk being placed next to one
As a starter to AFF keeping a list, here’s the info I know on car seat anchor points - which you may or may not need depending on what type of car seat you have. That said, to avoid being moved out of your seat, you could proactively choose one of these seats though their locations aren't great.
388
F: Not permitted
J: 13AK, 22AK
W: 28AK
Y: 64K,65A,77AEK,86AK,88E.
744
Y: 56AK
332
Y: 42E
Longer version
Process
Before I provide an overview with my experiences, here’s what you need to know about the QF process:
1. After you have booked your flights, give the special handing team a call. The special handling team require the car seat model, manufacturer and country of purchase. Based on the country of purchase, they’ll ask you to look for a certain sticker on the car seat. For a US car seat, the sticker actually says that it meets the standard for use in aircraft. For an Australian car seat, it just needs to be the relevant AS/NZ standard (though newer car seats actually have a CASA sticker on them).
2. Once you’re done with the special handling team, you’re all set. That said, if you get a schedule change on your booking, I certainly recommend calling them up again to make sure that you get the green light from them again.
3. At the airport, the check-in agent will want to see the car seat sticker to confirm that the details match what you have provided. The child’s boarding pass should have “CHST” printed in the service information section of the boarding pass (photo below).
**4. Get your boarding passes, get on the plane, put your car seat in the seat and off you go!
** no spoilers, but this is the step that varies each time.
Note: When your car seat is approved, you get "CHST" printed on your child's boarding pass
Experiences
I’ve done about 7 longhaul and 4 domestic legs with a car seat, but three experiences stand out
*Experience #1 - Beginner’s luck*
My first experience on QF with a car seat was QF94 LAX-MEL (388) in August 2015. We’d booked 32DEF (first row Y, upstairs) via manage my booking and had them confirmed via the special handling team (the car seat was in 32E).
At check-in, the Qantas agent checked that the car seat matched the details I’d provided earlier, got our boarding passes and hopped on the plane. Preboarded, installed the car seat ourselves and had a great flight. Worked a treat!
*Experience #2 - The awkward return*
The return journey was not as straightforward (even though it was the same PNR and details as Experience 1 above). This was QF95 MEL-LAX (744) in August 2015. As WP, checked in at the F counter and had 43HJK (the car seat was in 43K). When we got into the lounge, due to the very light load in Y, the lounge staff had kindly blocked off some extra seats for us, giving us the row behind 44HJK so that we could spread out. All was looking great.
When we went to preboard, the check-in agent mentioned that our car seat was not allowed in row 43 or 44. I mentioned that we had those seats allocated by the special services team and asked them to check. The response was incredibly terse: I need to close the flight, I can move to row 56 now or I can bump you off the flight - make a decision! Naturally, with a toddler you don’t really have the option of escalating or coming back the next day to make a point, so we did what we were told and moved to Row 56 (which is shocking btw, because it’s right next to the galley and the light/noise/talk from that area kept my child awake most of the flight).
On this flight, I asked to speak with the CSM and explained my frustration. They were kind enough to pull up some form of manual on their iPad and showed me a page where it had listed all of the types of planes and the car seat locations. The CSM was also willing to offer me compensation in the form of QFF points for my experience but I politely declined as I was still fuming from being crammed into 56HJK and thought accepting points would be ending the matter. Why? Well, after all the fuss the gate agent had made, they had allocated the car seat 56J (which is *not* an approved location - 56K is!).
After this flight, I filed a formal complaint/feedback through Qantas which unfortunately was also pretty poorly dealt with. I explained my experience and simply asked for a list of acceptable car seat locations by aircraft type so I could avoid the embarrassment of getting threatened/shouted down by a gate agent in front of a bunch of strangers again. The initial response was that they were unable to provide any information. After two more rounds and a request to escalate my query to a supervisor (which was denied!), I finally got the current car seat locations for Y on the 747s and all classes for the 388s.
*Experience 3 - Where I promised I’d write this long post*
This was a domestic flight SYD-MEL in Y on a 332. The special handling team had allocated us into 24DEF (the bulkhead, which is fantastic with a car seat because installing it with a seat in front of you can be tough). We preboarded, got on the plane and were all set. The CSM mentioned that they had never seen a car seat on a plane before but the CSM was confident that we weren’t allowed to sit in a bulkhead. I did the usual “I’ve done this a lot and sat in a bulkhead - please check with the special handling team - they approved it” and showed them the “CHST” on the boarding pass. Nevertheless, the CSM must have looked up the manual and noted that car seats must be in 42E on that flight and asked us to move (which is not what you want to hear after you install the car seat and have your toddler entertained). We didn’t bother fighting it because there’s really no point, and just moved down the back. That said, I vowed to get to the bottom of this and write an update on AFF, as there’s very little information about travelling with a car seat and this really ruining my enjoyment of travelling on QF.
One other anecdote where a whole story isn’t required:
* On several flights, the CSMs mention that the engineer must come on and install the seat or verify the installation: this never happens - perhaps it used to, but it doesn’t anymore. There was only one time when I flew SYD-LAX with the car seat in 56A that an engineer was required, but that’s because I specifically asked for one as the car seat anchor tether was missing and needed to be re-added.
The answers to the madness/inconsistency
It took me a while to figure out why the rules were being so inconsistently applied, especially as attempts to get answers post-flight were met with stony silence. That said, I finally figured out why special handling and the flight crews were at odds.
What’s the answer?: **There are different rules for car seat locations depending on what country your car seat is from.** Really.
For example, Australian car seats with a top tether can only be in specific seats on certain aircraft, where as US car seats without a tether follow the usual rules when flying on other airlines (any window or middle seat providing not immediately before, in or after an exit row).
It is this difference that I'll now cite to try and get the correct service. When I’m told I have to move, I'll simply say that rule only applies to Australian car seats or car seats that have a tether strap. Most flight attendants never see a car seat on a plane (based on several flight attendants telling me this, with one mentioning “I’ve been flying for 15 years and have never seen a car seat on a plane”). That said, citing a rule may not help you as you'll have to do what they say anyway.
So, the short version is that car seats without a tether strap (i.e. some car seats that meet the US/FAA standard) can be in any window or middle seat on a QF flight (except exit rows), but any seat meeting the AS/NZ standard must be in a specific seat!
Other random QF-specific car seat rules that don’t seem to apply with other airlines:
* You can only have a rear-facing car seat until your child is 9kgs, then they must be forward facing (QF is the only airline I’ve come across with this rule and is actually counter to most rear-facing infant safety advice due to the weight of a child’s head vs. neck strength).
* Forward facing car seats are permitted to 18kgs only. If your child is about 18kgs, they are not allowed to use a car seat on QF.
* Car seats are restricted to children under 5. Children 5 or older can’t use car seats (I'm not sure if this one is QF specific, but putting it here just in case).
If you read this far, congratulations - you probably know more about car seats than you ever wanted to
I’ve spent quite a bit of time flying with car seats on QF in the last year and thought it would be worthwhile to do a brain dump of what I’ve learned for the AFF community as the last thread was ~2007 and is closed. As always, this info is based on my experiences and shouldn’t be relied upon exclusively.
Short Version:
* Qantas Special Handling (+61 2 8222 2651) know all of the rules and you need to speak with them, but unfortunately the crew and the check-in agents don’t know or follow these rules. This is understandable, as car seats aren’t very popular and those sections of the rules aren’t widely understood or used. Also be prepared to be reseated and shuffled around by gate agents and crew members at the last minute who aren’t familiar with the rules, so don’t get your hopes up and expect to keep the seat you’ve chosen.
* Understand the differences in seating restriction based on what international standard your car seat meets. If you have a AU/NZ car seat, you’ll be limited to very specific seats. If you have a US car seat, you can sit in lots of seats (more info below), but the flight crew might move you because they don’t understand this distinction.
* AFF should keep a list of known car seat locations for planes, not only for those of us travelling with car seats, but for those of us who don’t want to risk being placed next to one
As a starter to AFF keeping a list, here’s the info I know on car seat anchor points - which you may or may not need depending on what type of car seat you have. That said, to avoid being moved out of your seat, you could proactively choose one of these seats though their locations aren't great.
388
F: Not permitted
J: 13AK, 22AK
W: 28AK
Y: 64K,65A,77AEK,86AK,88E.
744
Y: 56AK
332
Y: 42E
Longer version
Process
Before I provide an overview with my experiences, here’s what you need to know about the QF process:
1. After you have booked your flights, give the special handing team a call. The special handling team require the car seat model, manufacturer and country of purchase. Based on the country of purchase, they’ll ask you to look for a certain sticker on the car seat. For a US car seat, the sticker actually says that it meets the standard for use in aircraft. For an Australian car seat, it just needs to be the relevant AS/NZ standard (though newer car seats actually have a CASA sticker on them).
2. Once you’re done with the special handling team, you’re all set. That said, if you get a schedule change on your booking, I certainly recommend calling them up again to make sure that you get the green light from them again.
3. At the airport, the check-in agent will want to see the car seat sticker to confirm that the details match what you have provided. The child’s boarding pass should have “CHST” printed in the service information section of the boarding pass (photo below).
**4. Get your boarding passes, get on the plane, put your car seat in the seat and off you go!
** no spoilers, but this is the step that varies each time.
Note: When your car seat is approved, you get "CHST" printed on your child's boarding pass
Experiences
I’ve done about 7 longhaul and 4 domestic legs with a car seat, but three experiences stand out
*Experience #1 - Beginner’s luck*
My first experience on QF with a car seat was QF94 LAX-MEL (388) in August 2015. We’d booked 32DEF (first row Y, upstairs) via manage my booking and had them confirmed via the special handling team (the car seat was in 32E).
At check-in, the Qantas agent checked that the car seat matched the details I’d provided earlier, got our boarding passes and hopped on the plane. Preboarded, installed the car seat ourselves and had a great flight. Worked a treat!
*Experience #2 - The awkward return*
The return journey was not as straightforward (even though it was the same PNR and details as Experience 1 above). This was QF95 MEL-LAX (744) in August 2015. As WP, checked in at the F counter and had 43HJK (the car seat was in 43K). When we got into the lounge, due to the very light load in Y, the lounge staff had kindly blocked off some extra seats for us, giving us the row behind 44HJK so that we could spread out. All was looking great.
When we went to preboard, the check-in agent mentioned that our car seat was not allowed in row 43 or 44. I mentioned that we had those seats allocated by the special services team and asked them to check. The response was incredibly terse: I need to close the flight, I can move to row 56 now or I can bump you off the flight - make a decision! Naturally, with a toddler you don’t really have the option of escalating or coming back the next day to make a point, so we did what we were told and moved to Row 56 (which is shocking btw, because it’s right next to the galley and the light/noise/talk from that area kept my child awake most of the flight).
On this flight, I asked to speak with the CSM and explained my frustration. They were kind enough to pull up some form of manual on their iPad and showed me a page where it had listed all of the types of planes and the car seat locations. The CSM was also willing to offer me compensation in the form of QFF points for my experience but I politely declined as I was still fuming from being crammed into 56HJK and thought accepting points would be ending the matter. Why? Well, after all the fuss the gate agent had made, they had allocated the car seat 56J (which is *not* an approved location - 56K is!).
After this flight, I filed a formal complaint/feedback through Qantas which unfortunately was also pretty poorly dealt with. I explained my experience and simply asked for a list of acceptable car seat locations by aircraft type so I could avoid the embarrassment of getting threatened/shouted down by a gate agent in front of a bunch of strangers again. The initial response was that they were unable to provide any information. After two more rounds and a request to escalate my query to a supervisor (which was denied!), I finally got the current car seat locations for Y on the 747s and all classes for the 388s.
*Experience 3 - Where I promised I’d write this long post*
This was a domestic flight SYD-MEL in Y on a 332. The special handling team had allocated us into 24DEF (the bulkhead, which is fantastic with a car seat because installing it with a seat in front of you can be tough). We preboarded, got on the plane and were all set. The CSM mentioned that they had never seen a car seat on a plane before but the CSM was confident that we weren’t allowed to sit in a bulkhead. I did the usual “I’ve done this a lot and sat in a bulkhead - please check with the special handling team - they approved it” and showed them the “CHST” on the boarding pass. Nevertheless, the CSM must have looked up the manual and noted that car seats must be in 42E on that flight and asked us to move (which is not what you want to hear after you install the car seat and have your toddler entertained). We didn’t bother fighting it because there’s really no point, and just moved down the back. That said, I vowed to get to the bottom of this and write an update on AFF, as there’s very little information about travelling with a car seat and this really ruining my enjoyment of travelling on QF.
One other anecdote where a whole story isn’t required:
* On several flights, the CSMs mention that the engineer must come on and install the seat or verify the installation: this never happens - perhaps it used to, but it doesn’t anymore. There was only one time when I flew SYD-LAX with the car seat in 56A that an engineer was required, but that’s because I specifically asked for one as the car seat anchor tether was missing and needed to be re-added.
The answers to the madness/inconsistency
It took me a while to figure out why the rules were being so inconsistently applied, especially as attempts to get answers post-flight were met with stony silence. That said, I finally figured out why special handling and the flight crews were at odds.
What’s the answer?: **There are different rules for car seat locations depending on what country your car seat is from.** Really.
For example, Australian car seats with a top tether can only be in specific seats on certain aircraft, where as US car seats without a tether follow the usual rules when flying on other airlines (any window or middle seat providing not immediately before, in or after an exit row).
It is this difference that I'll now cite to try and get the correct service. When I’m told I have to move, I'll simply say that rule only applies to Australian car seats or car seats that have a tether strap. Most flight attendants never see a car seat on a plane (based on several flight attendants telling me this, with one mentioning “I’ve been flying for 15 years and have never seen a car seat on a plane”). That said, citing a rule may not help you as you'll have to do what they say anyway.
So, the short version is that car seats without a tether strap (i.e. some car seats that meet the US/FAA standard) can be in any window or middle seat on a QF flight (except exit rows), but any seat meeting the AS/NZ standard must be in a specific seat!
Other random QF-specific car seat rules that don’t seem to apply with other airlines:
* You can only have a rear-facing car seat until your child is 9kgs, then they must be forward facing (QF is the only airline I’ve come across with this rule and is actually counter to most rear-facing infant safety advice due to the weight of a child’s head vs. neck strength).
* Forward facing car seats are permitted to 18kgs only. If your child is about 18kgs, they are not allowed to use a car seat on QF.
* Car seats are restricted to children under 5. Children 5 or older can’t use car seats (I'm not sure if this one is QF specific, but putting it here just in case).
If you read this far, congratulations - you probably know more about car seats than you ever wanted to
